


making sense of things

by bugsuit



Category: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-20
Updated: 2015-05-20
Packaged: 2018-03-31 12:22:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3977851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bugsuit/pseuds/bugsuit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chaos and Harmony make excellent friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	making sense of things

Discord watched her for a moment, tapping his eagle’s talons on the side of his teacup, and took a sip before answering the question. “Of course I haven’t wondered. I don’t need to.”

“Oh, no,” she responded, immediately concerned about misunderstandings, “I didn’t mean it like _that,_ Discord. Of course you belong… I just meant if you had to pick one. Or – or if an element was picked _for_ you – which that element might be. Princess Celestia says there’s a little of each element in everybody, and-”

He held up his claws to silence her, and put his teacup back down on the floating saucer. “I can recognise a harmless question, Fluttershy. But my answer stands. I don’t _have_ to wonder about these things. I already know the answer.”

“Oh.” She tilted her head in understanding, her hair falling away from hiding her other eye now that her confidence had been restored, and blinked. “…Um, then-”

Discord didn’t wait for her to ask again, simply snapping his fingers. A familiar golden necklace appeared around his neck – but instead of an Element of Harmony, a strange navy-blue gem in the shape of a tornado rested at its centre. Fluttershy leaned forwards, rapt.

“Oh, my goodness. You never told me you-“

“Pshh, it’s not _real,"_  he scoffed. "But it does make a good example.” He hooked a thumb underneath the necklace and lifted it a little, to catch the light. “To answer your question about _which element of Harmony_ I would represent, the answer is _none._ But if you simply asked me _which element_ instead, I would answer the element of Chaos.”

Fluttershy studied the fake gem for a while, cogs turning. “…I didn’t know Chaos _was_ an element,” she admitted, and this elicited a good-natured laugh from Discord.

“Of course you didn’t. Not to sound too Twilight Sparkle here, but if you consider it – eugh – _logically,_ then what _is_ an element really?” He summoned a dictionary, licked his claw, and began flicking through it. “Let’s see. Elastic, eldritch… here we are. _Element._ An essential or characteristic part of something _abstract._ What does _that_ tell you?”

Fluttershy smiled sheepishly, looking away. “Well, I… This isn't really my strong point. But I _suppose_ that would mean…” A long pause. Her eyes flicked back to look at him guiltily, her momentary stalling not helping her to come up with a satisfactory answer. “…I don’t know. A lot of things.”

Discord couldn’t bring himself to be annoyed. He snapped the book shut and it vanished instantly. Somewhere off in Twilight's castle, Spike gained a new hat. “It means there are quite a few more _elements_ in this world than you and your five friends – or the Princesses – are aware of. Some of them, like yours, are grouped. Others, like mine, are solitary. Some of them oppose each other, some of them work _especially well_ together, and sometimes the natural order gets turned on its head. I do love it when that happens.” He paused, tapping his chin thoughtfully. “Which is perhaps why _Chaos_ making friends with _Harmony_ hasn’t been such a bad thing.”

It took the faux-Element disappearing from his neck to cue Fluttershy into realising he was done. “You make a very good teacher, Discord,” she said matter-of-factly.

He shrugged off the compliment a little too quickly.

“I really mean it. Twilight could learn a few things-“

“Oh, she has enough on her plate already without hearing about all this world’s intricacies. Besides, if I told her there were more Elements, she’d want me to tell her about all of them. And even _I_ don’t know that much. Let’s call it a _need-to-know basis_ thing and leave it at that.”

Fluttershy giggled. It was understandable that he didn’t want to be a teacher. And that just meant he had only told _her_ because it was topical.

It was still strange to know that she was on conversational terms with someone who was thousands of years old – who knew secrets about the world that no one else seemed to even know to look for. Conversation was no longer quite normal, and it often took a turn for the downright bizarre or even existential. But that was part of Discord’s strange appeal, she supposed. You would always hear something you’d never heard before.

Chaos _did_ make a good friend to Harmony, in a way. Fluttershy watched Discord stir another cup of tea for her and took it when it was offered.

“It’s like Twilight said – the Elements may have helped the six of us meet, but they’re not what makes a true friend. I just thought maybe it would be interesting to talk about which you might have. I talked about it with Tree Hugger once. We agreed she’d probably have the Element of Kindness, like me.”

Discord made a noncommittal noise and took another sip of tea. His claws clinked on the cup again, a rhythmic tapping that he didn’t seem to realise he was doing.

“I suppose mine would be Laughter, if you must know. I did say that one was my favourite.” He smiled at her quite genuinely and raised an eyebrow. “But I stand by my point. Chaos is my element. And I fit in _quite_ well with just that.”

“You sound very sure.”

“I _am_ sure.”

Fluttershy returned the smile, eyes twinkling – that look she always gave him when he’d said something she _really_ approved of, and perhaps it was the unexpectedness of that that made him lose confidence. Not in himself, but…

“Aren’t you?”

Fluttershy shook her head gently. “I know my Element is Kindness. I’m quite happy with it, in fact! I’m _honoured…”_

“But?”

“Um… But nothing. I’m happy with my Element,” she declared, and then made the mistake of looking at him over the top of her tea. “Oh… Well… Sometimes I wonder if I deserve it,” she mumbled. “I-it’s not that I don’t think I’m kind, and it’s not that I don’t have any confidence at all! I _do_ feel that this is what I was meant to do.” She bowed her head a little. “But the others all seem so much more sure of themselves… And you do, too. I suppose I just wonder if I’m supposed to feel that way as well. I mean, we’re not better than anypony else just because of our Elements, but maybe that’s why I’m not sure. Sometimes it seems like I should at least know why the element picked me, and not another kind, caring pony who was much more confident than I am.”

Discord laughed, and this time it had an uncharacteristically gentle edge to it. He set down his tea and folded his paws on his lap, leaning forwards conspiratorially. “So this was more about _you_ than it was about me. That _does_ make things a little easier.” He slipped out of his seat. “Fine, then: I’ll admit it. I have absolutely _no_ idea what to say to you right now.” Discord stooped to pick up the serving tray, and with a wave of his free hand, the teatime clutter floated onto it.

Fluttershy blinked at him. “What?”

“You’re trying to get some logical reassurance about harmony from a being of pure chaos. I don’t know _what_ to tell you.” Looking pretty content with that answer, Discord turned to carry the tray to the kitchen and spoke over his shoulder.

“Um,” Fluttershy began, and went quiet for almost a full minute to gather her thoughts. The sounds of clattering silverware in the kitchen told her better than to follow him. “No offense but… That didn’t really help.” A pause while she stared down at her tea, which Discord had mercifully left in her hooves instead of gathering it up with the rest. “Not to be ungrateful. I just mean maybe I need to think about it for a little while longer.”

Discord’s answer wasn’t quite immediate. “Well, Fluttershy, all I meant was – I’m not _completely_ sure of myself, either. And I’m _centuries_ old. But you already know that… the incident at the Gala notwithstanding,” he tacked on through gritted teeth. The next time he spoke, his voice was more cheerful than embarrassed. “One hoof in front of the other, Fluttershy. That was something you said to me just last week, was it not?”

“Oh.” She brightened a little, feeling like she understood his angle a little better. “That makes _sense-”_ She winced at the sound of crashing teacups. “Um, is everything okay in there?”

“Dandy, Fluttershy!”

She remained unconvinced. “Are you sure?”

“Not really,” came the lively response, “but then that’s sort of the point I was making. Not to worry – I fixed your teacups.”

“Fixed?”

“Well. I broke them, and _then_ fixed them. So it’s like they were never broken at all. I don’t know why I brought it up.” Discord rose from behind a seat cushion. Fluttershy blinked as he flopped into a lounging position and the laws of physics reasserted themselves. “So. This concern of yours. If you _really_ want _my_ advice, I think you should stop trying to make sense of it and simply go with the flow. That’s what I’m doing, with this whole friendship thing.” He wound his claws around as he spoke, accentuating his point, and looked at her expectantly.

“You mean… I should just stop worrying about it?”

“Why not? That’s what everyone tells the Cutie Mark Creampuffs, after all. You ponies _should_ take a dose of your own medicine sometimes.”

Fluttershy considered correcting him, and decided against it. She stared down at her tea again, thinking hard.

“I suppose that _does_ make sense…”

Discord glanced down at his lap uncertainly, as if having an inner debate, and the end of his tail flicked. The moment passed and he flashed her a contented smile. “I suppose I don’t mind.”

“Don’t mind what?”

“Making sense once in a while. But _only_ once in a while, mind you. Don’t expect me to give you good advice all the time. I’ll lose my edge.”

Fluttershy giggled behind her hoof. “I’m grateful that you’re trying at all. And maybe it _is_ good advice.” She smiled at him, in her usual calm and entirely sincere way, and Discord instinctively steeled himself for whatever she was about to say next, because that look usually signified something _inconceivably_ friendish. “I suppose if neither of us are sure, that makes me feel a little better. We can both help each other to feel better about it without having to understand.”

He’d been correct. Discord waited out the wave of _something_ that hit him in the chest, and smiled back at her. “That makes no sense whatsoever. I _love_ the concept. Let’s do that.”


End file.
